Meet of the Week: SUNY Cortland @ NYU

Meet of the Week: SUNY Cortland @ NYU

As the dual meet season gets into full swing, we would like to unveil our newest segment: Meet of the Week. It will give us the opportunity to preview and provide any insight we might have on the upcoming match-up. To kick off our segment we’ll take a look at a meet between two strong Division III programs in the Empire State.

Last year in the season opener,the Violets took it to the Red Dragons on both the men’s and women’s side. I would expect the same to happen this year. NYU returns a ton of talent and brought in some freshmen who will be big contributors. To be completely honest, I have no idea what Cortland’s incoming freshmen women look like. So, it’s hard to say if they’ll make up any ground from last year. The Cortland men, however, brought in about 14 freshmen. With this added depth and the impact of a few top end freshmen, it’ll help them make the meet a little bit closer. NYU has been known to start the season blazing fast so I hope to see some quick times from them.

Who to Watch:

Austin Palmer (SO), NYU – In this meet last year Palmer threw down a 9:36 in the 1000. Let’s see if the returning All-American is ahead of where he was last season.

Elise Gibbs (JR), NYU – She was an All-American in the 100 Breast last season, however, she did not swim any breaststroke in this meet last year. I expect her to win whatever she swims.

Jack Jakubek (SR), Cortland – A key part of Cortland’s medley relays. If they want to challenge NYU, he’ll have to be on. Keep an eye out for him in the 100 Breast as well.

Miranda Fergus (SR), Cortland – She took first on 1-meter last year and contended for the same place on 3-meter. A bright spot in a tough match-up for the Lady Dragons.

Jake Borkowski (FR), Cortland – Probably the most talented freshman joining the SUNYAC conference. It will be interesting to see what he swims for Cortland.